Rail anchor



Aug. 19 1924.

J. A. DIENNER ET AL RAIL ANCHOR Filed Feb. 5, 1923- Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. JOHN A. DIENNER, OF CHICAGO, AND ALEXANDER C. MABEE, OF VILLA PARK,

ILLINOIS.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed February 5, 1923. Serial No. 616,917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN A. DIENNER and ALEXANDER C. MABEE, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and Villa Park, county of Du Page, and State of Illinois, respectively, have invented a ce1- tain new and useful Improvement in Rail Anchors, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

()ur invention relates to rail anchors. We are aware that it has heretofore been pro posed to employ the longitudinal pressure between the anchor and the tie against which it rests to cramp or bind the anchor upon the flange of the rail. Such anchors with which we are familiar however, are subject to the defect that any slippage between the rail itself and the anchor results in placing the full strain upon the pin or bolt which holds the anchor upon the rail and about which bolt the anchor pivots to secure the clamping action.

In the preferred form of our invention a compound pivoting action occurs and the compound pivotin effect tends to convert the longitudinal s ippage into a clamping action. That is to say the initial pressure between the anchor and the tie pivots or swings the anchor about the pin or bolt to secure a primary clamping action which is a function of the length of the lower anchor arm measured from the bolt as a pivot. But this clamping action will not completely prevent slipping particularly since there is always a tendency for the rail to creep through the grip of the anchor under vibration and impact. The additional or compound clamping action is secured by translating this creepage into an increasing pressure, by a wedging of the upper arm in proper direction to secure a secondary pivoting of the anchor about the point or region of gripping.

While in the preferred form of our invention the primary gripping action is secured by a pivoting action which shackles or grips the rail and the secondary gripping action is a reinforcement of the same; i. e., also a pivoting action which shackles or grips the rail through the same gripping surfaces, we do not wish to be limited to the specific structure or mode of operation herein shown and described as it appears to be broadly new in the present invention to have a primary gripping action of any preferred character for holding the rail against slippage, and a secondary gripping action whichis increased by the tendency of the rail to slip through the primary grip whether such gripping actions are secured by pivoting action or not.

In order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and operating our invention we shall now describe a specific embodiment of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this speclfication.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end view of an anchor embodying our invention applied to a rail.

Fig. 2 is a side e-levational view of the same showin the lower arm of the anchor contacting wlth the tie.

' Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the device of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modified form.

The anchor shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises the jaw or gripping portion 1 which fits relatively snugly upon the flange 2 of the rail. The jaws are preferably rounded as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 to obtain a relatively short and smoothly acting grip.

An integral upper arm 3 extends upwardly along the web 5 of the'rail 6. This arm 3 has an inclined slot 7. A bolt or pin 8 passes through the web 5 preferably at the neutral axis of the rail and extends through the inclined slot 7. The pin 8 may be supplanted by a bolt with a nut and spring washer if desired. The grip or jaw 1 has a lower tie engaging arm 4 resting against the side of the tie 9. The operation of the anchor shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is as follows: Assuming that the anchor is put in place upon the flange of the rail and in contact with the side of the tie as shown in Fig. 2 a hole is then drilled in the web and a pin I member 1 are in contact or bolt passed through this hole and through the slot in the upper arm and drawn up sufficiently to hold the anchor in place. Assume next that the rail begins to creep. The lower arm 4 engages the tie 9 and the anchor is swung about the pin or bolt 8 until the gripping surfaces of the jaw member 1 are brought into contact with its rail flange 2. This tends to give a primary gripping action which brings the secondary action into play. Although the gripping surfaces of the jaw with the rail flange, this action cannot hold the rail and the rail slips through the grip of the anchor. This slippage carries the pin or bolt 8 longitudinally with the rail and since the pin lies in the slot, the resulting motion of the pin in the slot cams or wedges the arm 3 down, securing thereby a gripping action which is a function of the slippage of the rail through the anchor. This involves a fundamentally new principle so far as we are aware.

In Figs. 3 and 4: we have shown a modified form in which the strain of clamping due to slippage does not fall upon the bolt or pin 8; but is taken upon the lower side of the rail head by means of a wedge plate 10. The wedge plate 10 has a top or wedge portion provided with teeth as shown in Fig. 4, for engaging the lower side of the rail head. This wedge piece has an inclined lower surface which engages the upper inclined edge of the upper or clamping arm 3 so that as the rail slips in the clamping portion it carries with it the edge plate 10 which moves with the rail and rides over the top edge 11 of the arm 3', thus camming the arm down to grip the rail. The wedge piece 10 has a downwardly extending plate or cheek portion 12 through which passes the bolt or pin 8'. This plate or cheek piece lies on the outside of the clamping arm 3 although the position of these parts may be reversed or changed without departing from the invention. The arm 3 has the inclined slot 7 but the pin 8 and slot 7 are not adapted to take the strain of the clamping action. The engagement of these parts is not intended to be greater than what is required to hold the wedge plate 10 firmly and securely in place. The wedge plate 10 IS made long enough so that .it cannot rock gut of position by swinging about the pin Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form in which is adapted to be engaged by the wedge 21. The wedge 21 is secured to the rail flange by rivet 22 and it is adapted to wedge under the outer end of said arm 20 to secure a wedging action and not to impose a direct shearing action upon the rivet 22. The wedge 21 is preferably rounded along its upper inclined surface and the lower coopcrating edge of the arm 20 is grooved to re tain the anchor as a whole upon the rail flange.

The operation of this form of the invention is the same as that of the other forms. The wedge 21 acts upon creepage of the rail through the anchor to bring about the seeondary gripping action above referred to.

This secondary gripping action is secured in the forms shown by a bodily slippage or movement of the rail through the grip of the anchor. This slippage or movement is transformed into a clamping or gripping pressure which is the secondary clamping or gripping action. lVithin limits the secondary clamping or gripping action increases in proportion to the slippage.

e do not intend to 'be limited to the details shown or described;

We claim:

1. In a rail anchor a jaw portion for gripping the flange of the rail, an arm for engaging a tie, a. second arm having an inclined surface and means adapted to be connected to the rail for moving longitudinally along said inclined surface to swing the anchor as a whole about said jaw portion.

2. In a rail anchor, a jaw portion, an arm adapted to be rocked by movement of the rail and a lower arm for engaging a tie, said arm being formed integral with the jaw portion, said first arm having an inclined surface and means adapted to be secured to the rail and movable with the same for converting the longitudinal crcepage of the rail into a rocking motion of the anchor about the jaw portion.

3. In a rail anchor having a jaw portion, a first integral arm and a second tie engaging integral arm, the method of increasing the gripping action which comprises swinging the anchor as a whole about the outer end of the first arm as a pivot to secure an initial clamping action, holding said clamping action by pressure against the second arm in a direction opposite the direction of motion of the rail, then pivoting the anchor as a whole about the jaw portion, and applying pressure tothe first arm independently of the second arm by the slipping of the rail through the jaw.

4. In a rail anchor a jaw adapted to grip the flange of the rail, an arm. extending up from the jaw above the flange of the rail, a lower arm extending down below the rail for engagement with the tie, said upper arm having an inclined surface, and a member secured to the rail and movable along said inclined surface to secure a clamping action of the jaw by pivoting of the anchor about said jaw.

, In a. rail anchor, a. jaw for gripping the flange of the rail, a lower arm for engaging a tie, an upper arm extending along the web of the rail, said arm having a slot therein lying at an angle to the horizontal for increasing the clamping action of the aw and a pin passing through the web of the rail and lying in the slot.

6. In a rail anchor, a jaw adapted to grip the flange of the rail, alower tie engaging arm, an upper arm having an inclined surface, and means secured tothe rail and engaging said inclined surface for camming said upper arm about the jaw as a pivot as the rail slips or creeps through the jaw.

7. In a rail anchor, a jaw adapted to grip the flange of the rail, a lower tie engaging arm, an upper arm having an inclined surface and means secured to the rail and engaging said inclined surface for camming said upper arm about said jaw as a pivot as the rail slips or creeps through the jaw, said means comprising a shoe engaging a substantially horizontal surface of the rail.

8. In a rail anchor, a jaw adapted to grip the flange of the rail, a lower tie engaging arm, a clamping arm having an inclined surface and means secured tothe rail and engaging said inclined surface for camming said upper arm about the jaw as a pivot as the rail slips or creeps through the jaw, said means comprising a shoe engaging a substantially horizontal surface of the rail, and a bolt for holding said shoe upon the rail.

9. In a rail anchor a jaw member 1 gripping the flange of the rail, a lower tie engaging arm, a clamping arm and means engaging the clamping arm and the rail and having motion with respect to one of said parts for swinging the anchor about the jaw member as a pivot as the rail slips longitudinally in the jaw member.

10. In a rail anchor, a jaw member for gripping the rail flange, a lower tie engaging arm and a clamping arm, the clamping arm having means for translating longitudinal slippage of the rail through the jaw member into rocking motion of the anchor as a whole about the jaw member where it grips the rail.

11. In a rail anchor, a gripping portion, tie engaging means for increasing the grip of said portion in proportion to the pressure against the tie and means fixed to the rail for increasing the grip of said portion by the slippage of the rail through the grip ping port-ion.

12. In a-rail anchor, a jaw portion, means actuated by pressure against an abutment for causing a gripping action of said jaw portion upon the rail, and means actuated by slippage of the rail through the grip of said jaw portion upon the rail, said means including a member fixed on the rail.

13. In a rail anchor, a clamping portion for gripping the rail having means abutting against a tie for clamping or clutching the said clamping portion upon the rail and means independently secured to the rail and operating upon the clamping portion and having movement with respect thereto to increase the clamping orclutching action upon the rail.

14. In a rail anchor, a clamping portion for gripping the rail having a depending portion for engaging a tie to cause a clamping or clutching of the clamping portion upon the rail, and means independently secured to the rail and operating upon the clamping portion and having movement with respect thereto to increase the clamping or clutching action upon the rail, said anchor being so disposed upon the rail as to secure a reaction in substantially the vertical plane of the rail.

15. The method of clamping a rail anchor upon a rail which comprises clamping the anchor upon the rail with a force depending upon the pressure of the tie against the anchor, then moving or slipping the rail bodily through the grip of the anchor and transforming said movement or slippage into a secondary force which increases in proportion to the slippage.

16. In combination, a rail anchor of the clamping type and means mounted upon the rail and movable with respect to the anchor for forcing the clamping action of the anchor independently of the friction of the rail upon the anchor.

17. The method of increasing the grip of a rail anchor upon a rail which comprises moving the rail through the grip of the anchor and transforming said movement into a secondary gripping force which increases in proportion to the slippage.

18. The method of increasing the holding power of a rail anchor which comprises transforming the slippage of the rail through the grip of the anchor into a secondary gripping force which increases as a function of the slippage.

19. In a rail anchor, a gripping surface for engaging the base flange of the rail, a tie engaging abutment integral therewith, and means movable with respect to said gripping surface and actuated by slippage of the rail on said gripping surface for increasing the pressure upon said surface.

20. In combination, rail and tie engaging means for gripping the rail and abutting against the tie, and means actuatedby slippage of the rail with respect to said first means for increasing the friction of said rail with respect to said first means.

21. In combination, means for engaging the base flange of the rail and having a tie abutting portion, and means acting in a ver tical plane by movement of the rail through said engaging means for increasing the grip of said engaging means upon the base flange of the rail.

22. In a rail anchor having a frictional rail engaging surface, the combination of movable means actuated by slippage of the vantage than said first means for transform rail with respect to said surface for increasing the slippage of the rail into increased ing the pressure upon said surface. friction at said surface.

23. In a rail anchor having a frictional 5 rail engaging surface, means for applying our names this 1st day of February, 1923.

a pressure to said surface, and additional JOHN A. DIENNER.

means operating at a greater mechanical ad- ALEXANDER G. MABEE.

In Witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe 

